Shell Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:SHEL)

Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 20,832 call options on the company. This is an increase of 100% compared to the average volume of 10,417 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SHEL. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Shell from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Hsbc Global Res raised Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Shell from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Shell currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.26.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SHEL opened at $72.34 on Friday. Shell has a 1-year low of $58.55 and a 1-year high of $74.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $66.97 and its 200-day moving average is $66.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $69.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.18 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 4.75%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Shell will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.90%.

Shell announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the energy company to purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Shell by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 2,545 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Shell by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 33,168 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,078,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Shell by 136.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,824 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 4,512 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Shell by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 199,856 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $12,521,000 after acquiring an additional 14,937 shares during the period. Finally, Choate Investment Advisors increased its stake in Shell by 119.0% during the 4th quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 7,500 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 4,076 shares during the period. 28.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shell Company Profile

Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the United States, and Rest of the Americas. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, and Renewables and Energy Solutions segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure to deliver gas to market.